Blasts strike popular hotels, killing 37

Baghdad  Suicide bombers struck in quick succession Monday at three Baghdad hotels favored by Western journalists in well-planned assaults that killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 100.

The attacks were another blow to an Iraqi government already struggling to answer for security lapses that have allowed bombers to carry out massive attacks in the heart of the Iraqi capital since August, raising serious questions about the country’s stability ahead of the March 7 parliamentary elections.

The blasts were launched over a span of 15 minutes, shortly before Iraq announced it had hanged Saddam Hussein’s notorious henchman “Chemical Ali.”